By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 9 May 25
Culmination in the Second Trump Administration: A Clausewitzian ReadingCarl von Clausewitz observed that every offensive reaches a culminating point, the moment when accumulated resistance, logistical strain, and sheer chance sap momentum faster than fresh power can be applied. Beyond that threshold, pressing ahead only multiplies risk. Modern doctrine shortens the term to culmination and treats it as a mechanical limit: a force’s capacity peaks and begins to decline.Recent social-media commentary I’ve participated in has used this framework to gauge the trajectory of the Trump administration’s second term. The analysis starts from a simple premise: political power, like military strength, depends on
Culmination in the Second Trump Administration: A Clausewitzian ReadingCarl von Clausewitz observed that every offensive reaches a culminating point, the moment when accumulated resistance, logistical strain, and sheer chance sap momentum faster than fresh power can be applied. Beyond that threshold, pressing ahead only multiplies risk. Modern doctrine shortens the term to culmination and treats it as a mechanical limit:
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 11 Apr 25
I’ve been asking myself for a while now: Why are so many people today drawn to oligarchs and demagogues? I recently posted this question on Facebook, and the thread that followed was lively and wide-ranging. Here’s my attempt, with some help from ChatGPT, to synthesize those comments — pulling it all together from my own perspective — while acknowledging the many possible explanations and counterarguments raised in that discussion.Here’s the link to the original Facebook discussion: discussion URL.1. The Education and Literacy DebateSeveral people began by arguing that the problem boils down to a decline in literacy and critical thinking. They suggested that, despite official
I’ve been asking myself for a while now: Why are so many people today drawn to oligarchs and demagogues? I recently posted this question on Facebook, and the thread that followed was lively and wide-ranging. Here’s my attempt, with some help from ChatGPT, to synthesize those comments — pulling it all together from my own perspective — while acknowledging the many possible explanations and
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 9 Apr 25
The global system isn’t collapsing — it’s transforming. In this urgent episode, Robb Smith reveals why the U.S. is facing a historic terminal crisis, what comes next in the 700-year cycle of capital accumulation, and how a new world order — or global anarchy — is already taking shape. This post was originally published on Integral Life.
The global system isn’t collapsing — it’s transforming. In this urgent episode, Robb Smith reveals why the U.S. is facing a historic terminal crisis, what comes next in the 700-year cycle of capital accumulation, and how a new world order — or global anarchy — is already taking shape. This post was originally published on Integral Life.
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 2 Apr 25
Psychotherapist and developmental theorist Kim Barta joins Keith Martin-Smith for a deep dive into the psychological and developmental dynamics surrounding one of the most polarizing figures of our time: Donald Trump. This post was originally published on Integral Life.
Psychotherapist and developmental theorist Kim Barta joins Keith Martin-Smith for a deep dive into the psychological and developmental dynamics surrounding one of the most polarizing figures of our time: Donald Trump. This post was originally published on Integral Life.
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 8 Feb 25
In these times of turbulent change, we cannot depend upon the stability of human systems. The boundaries through which most of them were created are fickle and unfit for the complex challenges we must face today.For example, there are political lines drawn across bodies of water that divide nation states. The Great Lakes don’t care where the United States ends or Canada begins. Only human institutions do that. Thematic categories break apart holistic realities into narrow policy domains. Reality doesn’t break health down into psychology, medicine, or water quality. That is something human institutions do.What if we let our human systems
In these times of turbulent change, we cannot depend upon the stability of human systems. The boundaries through which most of them were created are fickle and unfit for the complex challenges we must face today.For example, there are political lines drawn across bodies of water that divide nation states. The Great Lakes don’t care where the United States ends or
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 16 Jan 25
New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 109 There are many ways we could conceive of Leftism, and one of the best is that it is a covetous relationship with power. It’s easy to understand how toxic and bad that is, if not evil. Yet here we are at a crossroads in world history, and we’re being led toward precisely that pit. There’s a popular line out there now that goes something like this: “the Left wants power, and conservatives don’t. That’s why conservatives always lose.” The implication is that conservatives should also desire (or covet) power. This line adopts the Left’s relationship
New Discourses Bullets, Ep. 109 There are many ways we could conceive of Leftism, and one of the best is that it is a covetous relationship with power. It’s easy to understand how toxic and bad that is, if not evil. Yet here we are at a crossroads in world history, and we’re being led toward precisely that pit. There’s
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 30 Dec 24
The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 153 Did you know the Soviet Union ran a DEI program exactly like the Woke Marxist one of today? How about Mao’s China? As it turns out, DEI isn’t an American invention. It’s a Soviet invention and Soviet export, designed, outlined, and implemented by Josef Stalin and Vladimir Lenin in the USSR in the 1920s. The results were predictable, of course: massively increasing ethnic strife arising from within the world’s most widespread Affirmative Action program in history. Russians, then later Han Chinese, then later straight, white, Christian, males in the West, were invited to subjugate themselves to ethnic minorities to accomplish “actual equality,” which we
The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Episode 153 Did you know the Soviet Union ran a DEI program exactly like the Woke Marxist one of today? How about Mao’s China? As it turns out, DEI isn’t an American invention. It’s a Soviet invention and Soviet export, designed, outlined, and implemented by Josef Stalin and Vladimir Lenin in the USSR in the 1920s. The results were predictable, of course: massively increasing
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 20 Dec 24
David and Keith explore how individuals intersect between different vertical developmental stages (Amber, Orange, Green) and cultural value stacks (traditional, modern, and progressive) in order to make meaning and navigate complex electoral decisions, with a specific focus on the 2024 U.S. election, unpacking the interplay between cognitive development, cultural alignment, and systemic factors in understanding the diverse rationales behind people’s voting behavior. This post was originally published on Integral Life.
David and Keith explore how individuals intersect between different vertical developmental stages (Amber, Orange, Green) and cultural value stacks (traditional, modern, and progressive) in order to make meaning and navigate complex electoral decisions, with a specific focus on the 2024 U.S. election, unpacking the interplay between cognitive development, cultural alignment, and systemic factors in understanding the diverse rationales behind people’s
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 22 Nov 24
OnlySubs Episode 142: Is the “Woke Right” Really Woke? is available for FREE to everyone! To get access to all past and future episodes, consider becoming a contributor on one of the following platforms: Facebook Locals Odysee Patreon Subscribestar Substack YouTube Members What is the “Woke Right”? Does it really exist? Is it really Woke? If so, how? These are increasingly important questions in our present circumstances as a visibly radicalized Rightism is emerging from within the broader conservative coalition and aiming to distort its aims and values along some new (or new-old) path. In this special long episode of James Lindsay OnlySubs, my subscribers’ only podcast, I take you through an
OnlySubs Episode 142: Is the “Woke Right” Really Woke? is available for FREE to everyone! To get access to all past and future episodes, consider becoming a contributor on one of the following platforms: Facebook Locals Odysee Patreon Subscribestar Substack YouTube Members What is the “Woke Right”? Does it really exist? Is it really Woke? If so, how? These are increasingly important questions in our present circumstances as a
By: The Posts Author | Posted on: 19 Nov 24
Recorded on Election Night 2024, this Q&A session with Robb Smith offers an in-depth exploration of the profound challenges facing America in the wake of the election results. As the nation grapples with critical questions about the future — such as choosing between reform and revolt, addressing increasing polarization, and recognizing the urgent need for evolved leadership — Robb offers a deep exploration of these complexities through the lens of integral theory. This post was originally published on Integral Life.
Recorded on Election Night 2024, this Q&A session with Robb Smith offers an in-depth exploration of the profound challenges facing America in the wake of the election results. As the nation grapples with critical questions about the future — such as choosing between reform and revolt, addressing increasing polarization, and recognizing the urgent need for evolved leadership — Robb offers